November 30, 2017

Film clip of stirring speech helps send Waterloo Wolves to Japan

Members of the Waterloo Wolves minor bantam AAA team celebrate their win over the Kitchener Rangers at RIM Park on Saturday. The Wolves won the Toyota Challenge recently and are going to Japan in March. - David Bebee,Record Staff

It's between the second and third periods of the Toyota Challenge hockey final, the Waterloo Wolves are in a tight battle with Cambridge with a trip to Japan on the line, and they need inspiration.

Again.

So out pops a cellphone, cued up to the motivational speech by coach Herb Brooks, played by Kurt Russell, in the movie "Miracle."

"We needed to get remotivated," said Wolves' AAA minor bantam captain Andy Reist, whose team had used the speech pre-game, but felt it needed an extra boost with just a 2-1 lead heading into the final period.

If you haven't seen the movie, you can call the clip up on YouTube. It's a stirring speech, the inspirational words the 1980 U.S. Olympic hockey team coach gave before his team went out and beat the Soviet Union 4-3 in one of the biggest upsets in sports history.

In essence it comes down to these two lines: "This is your time. Now go out there and take it."

The Wolves did. They exploded for five third-period goals to beat the Hawks 7-1, a week ago Sunday. Doing so, they earned a trip to Japan in March to face the Tomakomia all-stars, in the annual hockey and cultural exchange that started in 1998.

The event sends a minor bantam AAA team from Kitchener, Waterloo or Cambridge on an all-expenses-paid trip to Japan every other year. During alternate years, the Japanese all-stars visit Waterloo Region.

It's the third straight time a Waterloo team will be going to Japan. Cambridge teams have gone five times overall, Waterloo four and Kitchener twice.

"It's one of the greatest accomplishments of my life so far," said Reist, 13. "I remember watching the minor bantams beat Kitchener two years ago, when I was in minor peewee, thinking, 'Wow! That could be me.'"

Plus a group of longtime friends in the coaching staff, a group of five nonparent coaches who grew up together playing rep and high school hockey in Waterloo Region. They continue to play in recreational leagues as "the washed up Warriors," head coach Conor McCreary said with a smile before a Wolves' practice last week at RIM Park.

"We all met through hockey," McCreary said of his staff of Brad Forsyth, Dave Munroe, Shawn Walsh and Steve Linkert. "And we've tried to emphasize and instil that in the kids, the need to embrace each other. This is our family away from our real families."

That sense of camaraderie and teamwork helped Waterloo to a 3-0-1 won-lost-tied record against Kitchener and Cambridge in the round-robin that sends the two top teams to the Toyota championship game. The Wolves, currently in second place in their division behind Hamilton in the Minor Hockey Alliance of Ontario standings, are well ahead of their Waterloo Region rivals in league play. So on paper, at least, they were the favourites in the final.

But anything can happen in a one-game showdown. So, while McCreary prepared for the championship game as if it were a regular contest, he appreciated that it wasn't. The Toyota Challenge final was played before upwards of 1,000 fans on the big stage of the Aud in Kitchener, with a once-in-a-lifetime trip as the winners' reward.

"We just stuck to our process," McCreary said. "But there's no question you feel added pressure because of what's on the line. You just try to get the players to embrace the moment and enjoy it."

Now that the trip to Japan is booked, comes another challenge — returning to regular league play.

"The players are coming down off a high, but we have to dial back in to our goal of being Alliance champions." McCreary said.

The Wolves were dialed in over the weekend, beating Kitchener 2-1 and Brantford 5-0 in league play, to close to within two points of Hamilton in the standings, though the Huskies have three games in hand.

"Hopefully (winning the Toyota Challenge) will be the boost we need to help catch them," Reist said.

Karlo Berkovich’s column appears Wednesdays. He can be reached at berkovich59@hotmail.com Twitter: @KarloBerkovich.

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About Karlo

Karlo Berkovich is the former Associate Editor-Online Content and Sports Editor of the Waterloo Region Record and www.therecord.com He comments on sports and any number of topics including his other areas of interest, rock music and politics.